When I spoke at Denton UU on the Summer Solstice, I gave a three-line summary of one of the greatest stories of ancient Egypt: how Set murdered his brother Osiris, how Isis restored Osiris to life, and how Horus battled Set for the throne of Egypt and won. We’ve told this story numerous times, including a ritual dramatization at the largest public park in Dallas in 2009.
From this story you might assume that Set is an evil deity, or even a God of evil. Some have speculated that Set is a proto-Satan, but even though they were both first known in the Near East, their mythologies are not related.
In later stories Set fought alongside Ra every night, as the Sun God made his way through the Underworld so he could rise again in this world the next morning. Whatever Set may be, he is not evil.
This is also a reminder that our ancient ancestors understood that myths are stories people tell to help themselves understand the world and their place in it. They are not history, they were never understood as history, and they were most definitely never intended to be read literally.
What can we learn from these stories, and from our own experiences?
Set is a God of the Desert
Osiris was the God of the black land – the narrow strip of fertile land next to the Nile River, where the people lived and grew their crops. Set was the God of the red land – the desert, a place that is inhospitable to humans and most other mammals. Is it any wonder Set was jealous of Osiris?
But the desert has its place in the diversity of Nature. There are plants and animals who call it home. The desert is beautiful in its own way and we can visit there, if we’re responsible and respectful.
If we’re not responsible and respectful, the desert can kill us.
That doesn’t mean the God of the Desert is evil. It does mean the God of the Desert is not primarily concerned with the wellbeing of humans who act like they’re the center of the universe.
Set is a God of Chaos
Much of Egyptian worship – and mundane life – was centered around maintaining Ma’at, personified by the Goddess of Order and Justice, and of doing things the right way. The Egyptians did a pretty good job of that, considering that the Kingdom of Egypt lasted for 4000 years. You can’t do that any place, especially in a place where the boundaries between life and death are so sharp, unless there’s a constant effort to maintain order.
Set is a God of Chaos, of what happens when you stop maintaining the boundaries and the irrigation channels. You wake up and all of a sudden the desert has taken over your fields. Or when, for the third year in a row, the floods of the Nile are less than normal and you’re running out of stored grain.
Those of you who know me know that I’m very fond of order. Perhaps too fond, but that’s another post for another time (and probably for my private journal, not for the blog). But even I know this much:
Chaos is necessary
Chaos is necessary
The phrase “military precision” exists because armies around the world train constantly, following precise regulations, processes, and procedures. This level of discipline is necessary so that when people are shooting at you and trying to blow you up, you don’t have to think. You just have to do what you’ve done a thousand times.
In battle, a simple mistake that otherwise is no big deal can get you and your fellow soldiers killed. Absolute order is necessary to survive the absolute chaos of war.
But order requires constant vigilance. And constant vigilance is tiring. Exhausting.
More than that, excessive order can turn into stagnation. You do things the same way time after time after time, because you know they work. And then you look up and the world has moved on and you’re stuck in the past. You’re driving a Model T in a Toyota world. You’re using a rotary phone in an iPhone world.
You’ve mistaken ancient cultural norms for divine truth, or you’re telling people to live by sexual morals that may have made sense when there were 200 million people on Earth but are unhelpful and unnecessary with 8 billion.
Chaos disrupts stagnation. Chaos tears down the old and makes space for the new. Chaos removes people who’ve gotten comfortable in places of power, who’ve forgotten that their job not to rule but to serve.
Chaos is necessary.
Chaos harms those dependent on the current order
As the memes remind us, “good” doesn’t mean “nice.” In this case “necessary” doesn’t mean “pleasant.”
The current order – in whatever context is relevant – exists because it’s beneficial to some. Many times that’s the rich and powerful. But not always, and not in all ways.
I have some friends who are anarcho-primitivists. They believe the best thing for humanity is for modern society to crumble and for us to return an ultra-low-tech lifestyle. But doing away with technology and industry and all it brings is one thing if you’re young and healthy. It’s quite another if you’re old and sick, or if you’re dependent on insulin or other modern drugs to stay alive.
Which is to say, if you’re advocating for chaos, make sure you have a plan to take of those whose lives are unduly disrupted.
And if you’re dependent on vulnerable systems, make sure you have a plan for how you’re going to take care of yourself if those systems are no longer functioning.
Chaos presents opportunities
Opportunity is the benefit of chaos.
When systems crumble, they open spaces where those who were previously excluded can step in, fill a need, and benefit from it. They create opportunities.
Opportunities alone accomplish nothing. They must be seized, assessed, and filled. They require work. Most times lots of work. They favor those who are aggressive, those who already have some skills and resources. Mainly those who are paying attention. Chaos-based opportunities are not distributed evenly and they rarely come with an invitation.
But for those who will see them and can respond to them, they can be life-changing.
Chaos is part of Tower Time
The Tarot card that best embodies chaos it not the Wheel of Fortune. That’s the card of randomness – and life is far more random than we like to admit. Rather, the card that embodies chaos is The Tower.
Most decks – including Waite-Smith, the most commonly used deck – show a tower struck by lightning. It’s now on fire and those who were in high places are falling, likely to their deaths. The Tower was built on a weak foundation and so it could not withstand the storm. The old is falling away to make room for the new.
But there’s a lot that has to happen in between the lightning strike and the opening of the brand new mixed use development with plenty of affordable housing we’re going to build in its place.
That is what we’re going to build, isn’t it?
I wrote about Tower Time two weeks ago – I’m not going to repeat myself here. I am going to say that the chaos we’re all seeing and experiencing right now is part of that phenomenon.
We have to get through Tower Time – and it’s not going to be over quickly. We have to take care of ourselves and we have to take care of each other. We have to clear out the rubble and begin the process of building something to replace The Tower.
And if we’re wise, we will keep our eyes, ears, and other senses open for the opportunities that the chaos of Tower Time will place in front of us.
The divinity of Set
There are a million and one Gods – we cannot worship them all. I look up from my writing and I see statues of Isis and Thoth. Cernunnos and the Morrigan keep me plenty busy. Right now I’m getting ready to lead a ritual in honor of Lugh Lamhfada (and in honor of his foster mother Tailtiu) the first Saturday in August.
I had to borrow the statue of Set you see in these pictures. He’s not someone I have a close relationship with, or really, any relationship at all.
But a God of inhospitable places and a God of chaos is a God nonetheless.
In these times of chaos, Set reminds us to do what must be done, whether we live in the black land or in the red land.
And sometimes, he brings opportunities.
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